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Susan’s Thoughts…On Change

A change that will affect all who are visitors, followers, and subscribers to this Blog. This will also impact my life as this transition happens. I decided to close my .COM blog and begin blogging on Facebook and LinkedIn. The content will be my thoughts in Journal format and will include

The content will be my thoughts in Journal format and will include short writing of fiction, nonfiction stories, and poetry that I have written. Right now, I am using my Page, Susan’s Thoughts and Musings, as my Facebook page. This page will be changing its name to Susan’s Soul… If you don’t belong to Facebook, you will not be able to see my postings, but who doesn’t belong to FB?

The reason for the change is threefold:

First, I need more time to devote to my writing and my memoir with less time spent managing and marketing my blog. With only 24 hours in each day, I have spent 12-18 hours setting up posts or guests to post, marketing to all of the social media sites, etc. but I have no income despite trying affiliate links.

This brings us to the second reason for my decision. I need more income and more time to spend writing my memoir, freelancing. and a new business venture that you may hear more about in September or October.

The last reason is very personal, but I need to work on some of the things I have blogged about. I need to take care of myself with love and caring by giving myself permission to do other enjoyable things in my life, including personal socialization, time with God, and time for rest.

In closing, I will see you visiting my Facebook page, Susan’s Soul… if you choose to follow me. If you choose not, I will miss you and pray only good things for you in your life.

I find it amazing that I’ve made some friends across oceans and continents through blogging and have come to know bits and pieces of their lives enough to think of them in relation to mundane things that I would normally have overlooked.

In need of a friend: what a heartwarming testimony and tribute. Sometimes, when we least expect it and even when we resist it, love creeps up on us and clings with all it has to give. I enjoyed reading this 🙂

Disue: Step in and say hello. A new blogger friend of mine with lots of interesting posts to enjoy.

One of my objectives as a blogger is not just to write for others to read, but to equally get to connect and know who my friends in this space are. I’ve been following Alexis Rose for quite a while now and have not only enjoyed our interactions but she amazes and inspires me with her confidence, resilience, and candour.

Dear Alexis, thank you for taking the time to indulge my inquisition. My kind regards and I look forward to seeing your continued bloom and success.

Thank you, Jackie, for this wonderful opportunity to be interviewed for your blog. I have followed you since I began blogging and so impressed by the myriad of topics you cover. I have enormous respect for the ways you build community in the blogging world.

My name is Alexis Rose and I’m from Minnesota, which is in the Midwest of America. My state is called the land of 10,000 lakes and it’s beautiful. Freezing in the winter, hot and humid in the summer. I moved here when I was in my late teens and set down deep roots. I have two wonderful children, and we’re excited to see our son get married in just 5 short months. I thought I would have a difficult time being an empty-nester, but we see our kids often and have a close relationship with both of them and their significant others.

Up until 2009 I had a good career in the field of staff recruitment and marketing. I loved my job and was getting to a point in my career where I felt as if I could exhale a bit when it came to financial security. In October of 2009 sparked by a family tragedy, I began having flashbacks, although, I didn’t know they were flashbacks at the time. I had purposely repressed my past, but when my snow-globe world was shattered, I began to piece together, for the first time, a personal history of abuse and trauma.

While learning to live with the effects of my trauma, and working with the deficits arising from the post-traumatic stress disorder, I have co-authored three inspirational books and published my memoir one year ago.

My outlook towards life in one of hope. I am passionate about living life, not just going through the motions, however, that looks for a person. For me, it means living with my eyes wide open. I absolutely love people and human nature, I love all critters (we live with a dog and two cats) and feel best when I’m outside in any kind of nature. I think I was meant to live in the tropics because I thrive when it’s hot and humid.

2. Tell us about your blog and your purpose for starting it. Did you have any set goals in mind when you were setting up your blog? What do you think about the blogging phenomenon itself?

What has your blogging experience being? Here, you can share some links of your top posts or blog posts that you particularly like with us.

I’m an active blogger who writes about PTSD, Mental Health, Trauma, with some inspirational poetry sprinkled in along the way. I started my blog after publishing my memoir. I was told that I had to have a blog to market my book. I had absolutely no idea what a blog was, except a way to communicate with family when someone was on a trip. I had never clicked on a blog, and had never heard of WordPress, had no idea what a tag was, or how to follow someone. Last October, was the first time I wrote a post. After writing my first post, and having someone “like, and follow my blog” I began to research how to tag, find other blogs to read, and engage in the blogging world.

Now, as I reflect on the last eight months of blogging, I’m grateful for the connections I’ve made. I love to follow blogs in all genres. Although my intention with my blog is to start and keep the conversation going about PTSD, or any other chronic illness, as well as share my poetry, I’m open and excited to be followed and follow blogs that write about every subject. I love to read about other people’s interests and viewpoints. I love to see the photos, read the poems, recipes, opinions and editorials. I absolutely love the connections that blogging provides.

I am thrilled to read and write on someone’s blog or have them write on mine from all the world. It makes the world a bit smaller as we are able to connect with each other. The reality of knowing that I am responding to someone who is already a day ahead of me, by virtue of time zones is amazing to me. I am part of their past, they are part of my future and yet we are talking to each other in real time. I LOVE that!!

As you can tell, my blogging experience has been amazing. Here are a few posts to click on to get a flavor of what I post:

3.Take us with you on a typical day spent with you. Show us a bit of your World and yes we love photos of your pets if you’ve got any.

Most days start with working out, yoga, or meditating. I do marketing for two different businesses’ part-time, as well as try to market my book, and I’m only cleared to work two hours a day (part of the living with the effects of PTSD) so I divide my mornings into working. Then I take my dog, Leilani for a walk. She is my unofficial/official therapy dog and I don’t know what I would do without her. She keeps me grounded, knows what to do if I begin to have a flashback and is always by my side. I’m including a picture of Leilani and our cat, Brad.

During the summer, autumn and spring, I try to spend as much time as possible outside, so I typically take a break during the day and spend time on our deck with the critters. Depending on the time of year, my symptoms can be a lot more prevalent, so I need to pace myself, and stay grounded. I make sure I see friends throughout the weekdays too. I have a wonderful support system of people who check on me, make sure I get out of the house for hikes, walks, lunches dates, etc.

I try every day to make time to read other people’s blogs. I believe that blogging is a two-way commitment. If I’m following someone I read what they write. It’s why we blog, so other’s will read our words. I try to engage as much as I can with comments, but I will typically always “like” someone’s post. I want them to know I am reading their words and they are being heard.

4. What’s the next pit-stop for your blog’s outreach and publishing? Any plans in the offing? You can also share some of your published works here.

I love the blogging world, and I get tremendous fulfillment from writing and sharing my posts. I still have a twinge, of fear each time I hit the publish button. Will my writing be interesting to others, will my poetry and/or writing resonate with others? I’m still not quite as confident I would like to be. I write from a vulnerable and honest place, so sharing that with the world and opening myself up is really difficult, but I’m determined to keep a conversation going about living with PTSD, and I’m passionate about dispelling some stigma behind the mental and chronic illness.

I will also continue to market Untangled on my blog. I love that my book has been read not just by the mental health community but cut across all genres of readers and I believe that is because of my blog.

I’m going to begin writing another book in September. I can feel another book bubbling out of me, and I’m compelled to honor that feeling. Besides Untangled, I have collaborated on three other inspirational/spiritual books, but they are currently unavailable on Amazon. I love all my books, but Untangled is my heart. It’s my memoir, and that book has given me gifts of healing, connection, and hope beyond my wildest dreams. Here is a link to Untangled.

I appreciate it when someone purchases my book, reads it, gives me feedback, and writes reviews on Amazon. I wish I could thank each person when they buy my book. Although, because of the wonderful world of blogging I’m able to thank many people when they reach out to me after reading it.

All about me: Mo of Mugglestones and Mayhem let’s us into her World by sharing parts of her personal life with us. I always find it refreshing to get to know those I interact with a bit better and today not only did she share some aspect about her but a little knowledge of Mugglestones, which is quite enlightening to know. From her information, Mugglestones are a combination of Golden Brown Tiger Eye, Hematite, and Red Jasper, exhibits the metaphysical properties of its components, as well as its own.

Mugglestones helps you to regroup and calm scattered energies especially after conflicts with other people, as in groups.

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A wordsmith with a vivid imagination, an eager mind and a burning desire to carve out tales. As I journey with my muse to that land of all possibilities and self discovery, I hope my personal evolution will serve as a beacon of inspiration for anyone who chooses to stop by.